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Robert Wood Johnson
I
MEDICINE 33
NEWS
A
November 25 retreat
marked the launch of
the Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School Institute for
Excellence in Education and
its Academy of Medical
Educators. The mission of
the institute is to train learn-
ers across the continuum
to care for patients and the
health of the population.
"Our guiding principle is
`Great Doctors Made by
Great Teachers,'" says the
institute's founding director,
Carol A. Terregino, MD '86
,
senior associate dean for
education. The phrase
encapsulates the concept of
the learning and teaching
cycle that will equip current
and future trainees with the
tools to integrate the science
of clinical medicine in daily
practice, use best evidence in
presenting treatment plans,
communicate respectfully
and effectively, collaborate
with patients and families
to devise treatment plans
tailored to the needs and
preferences of the patient,
and develop strategies to
reinforce adherence and
self-care. Signature programs
of the institute include the
PharmD/MD program, a
graduate certificate in
medical education, Warrior
Centric Healthcare, and
culinary medicine.
The Richard A. Harvey
Excellence in Teaching
Award
Endow-
ment
supports
the insti-
tute,
which
has a
steering
commit-
tee of medical school senior
leaders, headed by
Vicente
H. Gracias, MD
, dean
(interim).
Medical School Launches
Institute for Excellence in Education
M
ichael Y. Chee, MD
,
assistant professor of
surgery, recently performed
the first cochlear implant
ever done at the
The Bristol-
Myers Squibb Children's
Hospital at Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital
.
The 5-year-old patient had
been striving for ways to
communicate. "Seeing that
cochlear implants helped
other children, he wanted
one, too," says Dr. Chee, a
pediatric otolaryngologist.
Ideally, cochlear implanta-
tion takes place by the age of
12 months, before the majori-
ty of speech
develop-
ment has
taken place,
though chil-
dren up to
5 or 6 years
old can ben-
efit. Patient selection involves
a multidisciplinary panel, in-
cluding a physician, an audi-
ologist, a speech/language
pathologist, a geneticist, and
a psychologist. To qualify, a
patient must have bilateral,
sensorineural hearing loss. An
MRI or CT scan reveals the
anatomy of the inner ear, while
genetic testing looks for associ-
ated mutations or syndromes.
In the procedure, the sur-
geon places an electrode in the
patient's cochlea, the inner-
ear structure where sound
waves are normally converted
into electrical signals, which
the auditory nerve transmits
to the brain. The implanted
device is connected to an ex-
ternal receiver. In extensive
follow-up training, the previ-
ously unstimulated brain
learns to interpret auditory in-
put, while the patient adjusts
to a new sensory experience
and works with a specialist
to develop speech.
Michael Y. Chee, MD
H
eart attacks and strokes
are more likely to occur
during extreme weather and
natural disasters, says a study
led by
Joel N. Swerdel, MS,
MPH
, an epidemiologist at the
Cardiovascular Institute of
New Jersey at Robert
Wood Johnson Medical
School and the Rutgers
School of Public
Health. The study,
which focused on
Hurricane Sandy, was
published on December 8
in the Journal of the
American Heart Association
.
In the eight New Jersey
counties determined to be
high-impact areas, there was a
22 percent increase in heart
attacks as compared with the
same time period in the previ-
ous five years; 30-day mortali-
ty from heart attacks increas-
ed by 31 percent in the high-
impact area. In the low-impact
areas, the increase in heart
attacks was less than 1 percent.
"We estimate that there were
69 more deaths from
myocardial infarction
than would have
been expected during
the two weeks following
Sandy," says Mr. Swerdel.
The incidence of stroke
increased by 7 percent.
"Our hope is that the
research may be used by the
medical community, particu-
larly emergency medical serv-
ices, to prepare for the change
in volume and severity of
health incidents during extreme
weather events," he says.
Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy Included an
Increase in Heart Attacks and Stroke
Dr. Chee Performs First
Cochlear Implant at The Bristol-Myers
Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood
Johnson University Hospital
Carol A. Terregino,
MD '86
J
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